The small Lexus LBX Hybrid is a perfect size for the Europeans, and the Japanese have stuffed the small crossover with luxury and goodies. This kind of thing has its price.
TEXT AND PHOTO Morten Beck
You can test drive and buy a Lexus only in one place in Denmark. The dealer, who is located in the same building as the importer, can be found by setting the navigation to Dynamovej in Søborg. Søborg, a little outside Copenhagen, is right for you if you live in Copenhagen, but it’s not exactly the case that people from Aalborg or Aarhus slip past Søborg.
Lexus is a little different from Audi and Mercedes, but Lexus is not like the Tivoli, the Opera or the Louisiana; they are institutions you travel for, while Lexus is a car. A product you are offered. Lexus should have at least one dealer in Jutland, and this becomes even more evident in relation to the newest model in the pack, the LBX.
The LBX has a size that makes it obvious to more Danes than an RX, and even the starting price of DKK 349,500 is unusual for Lexus. The LBX itself has qualities that many can appreciate, so it deserves more than just a single outlet.
Small and delicious
I have the CT 200h in the back of my mind when I pick up the test car from a Toyota dealer in Aarhus. Not that anything at the dealership reminds me of Lexus or the old model. It’s more the idea of ​​a small Lexus. The CT 200h was a Prius dressed in a blazer and shiny shoes, and it wasn’t worth the money when it was available from 2011.
The LBX is a Toyota Yaris Cross in luxury packaging. Fortunately, it is also more than that, because Lexus’ philosophy around luxury, materials and comfort is integrated into the LBX, even though it is small. The cabin justifies a much higher price than that found in the Yaris Cross. There are actually many that do, I can already reveal here.
Toyota has a hard time making its cars spacious. Yaris, Corolla, Yaris Cross. Space conditions below average. The LBX may be slightly longer than the Yaris Cross, but every extra centimeter has been lost, because the LBX has a back seat that can’t honestly be called a back seat. No adult and no child can sit behind me when I’m behind the wheel, and I don’t drive the driver’s seat all the way back.
I’m actually okay with the LBX being a small luxury car for two people. Could Lexus perhaps make something else where the “back seat” is? A crate for the dog or a holder for the paintings I imagine a Lexus customer will buy?
Were it not for the narrow cabin, I would think that in the LBX I was actually sitting in a larger and even more expensive Lexus. I can’t find anything that doesn’t look tasteful, expensive and elegant. The LBX hides a very positive surprise, and that is that it is easier and better equipped than the other Lexus models. The 9.8″ large touchscreen sits perfectly, and the air conditioning system has its own buttons. Even the operation of turning off license plate recognition and the associated faulty alarm is done in a menu with large, easy-to-find icons.
If the colors and materials in the tested Cool model with Luxury package fall by the wayside, there are other so-called “atmospheres” with completely different colors and compositions. Lexus does not use real equipment designations for the LBX editions, but instead “atmospheres” and equipment packages.
There are five levels, from the base model LBX to the tested LBX Cool, and if that’s still not enough, Lexus can help tailor the car’s paint, colors, patterns and materials in the cabin. It sounds outrageously expensive, but I’m impressed that it exists in a small crossover.
Sorry, but WHAT does it cost?
An affordable car from Lexus? So far so good for the base version LBX at DKK 349,500. It costs no more than a well-equipped Yaris Cross or VW T-Cross. While the basic LBX has most of it, it lacks the last, which makes it quite obvious in terms of staying at the lowest level.
17″ alloy wheels, the good infotainment system with navigation, heated steering wheel, reversing camera with washing function, parking sensors front and rear, rain sensor, adaptive cruise control, blind spot system and wireless mobile charging give a high score, but I would miss keyless operation. This is where Lexus’ pricing policy begins to strain the LBX, because keyless operation requires 1) moving up to the Elegant edition at DKK 395,500 and 2) Plus package at DKK 14,500.
In itself, the Elegant version, at DKK 55,000 more than the basic model, is only equipped with a few decorations and lyres that do not make a difference. 18″ alloy wheels, mood lighting (one colour!), “sporty front seats”. DKK 55,000 has never been so badly spent.
The test car. Cool, the most expensive LBX, flavored with Luxury package. In addition, the Sonic Copper paintwork. Neither cooling in the front seats nor glass roof. Price: DKK 523,500. I’m really never at a loss for words when it comes to cars. But here I have none. For everyone’s sake, I will hurry instead to talk about private leasing. It’s much nicer, because LBX can be had on lease, which is easier to talk about.
DKK 9,999 in one-off payment for a contract that runs for 36 months with a total of 45,000 kilometres. A good start. The basic model costs DKK 3,849. However, the best offer is Elegant with Plus package (which costs DKK 410,000 to buy) for DKK 4,249 per month. Well equipped at a reasonable price.
Doesn’t drive like a Yaris Cross at all
The problem with the little Lexus of the 2010s, the CT 200h, was that it drove like a Prius, and it was sluggish like a Prius. It was an expansion of the model range that Lexus had to stifle in one of the first phases.
I’m glad Lexus made the LBX. It works and it fulfills the mission Lexus sent it on. The petrol engine is part of a hybrid system. It goes without saying when Toyota and Lexus make a new car. Same three-cylinder 1.5 as in the most powerful Yaris Cross, but tuned and refined by the Lexus people for a little more power and a lot less noise. Much, much less.
136 horsepower is not for limit-seeking acceleration and 220 km/h on the Autobahn. I feel the horses as strong and fast on the trigger, and not once do I get cranky and angry about high revs and a whining engine when the CVT gearbox keeps the steam up. That’s because there’s much less resonance and so little noise compared to the Yaris 130 I tested recently.
Fuel consumption is low, and it stays low over a week of heavy highway driving and long road trips. 20 km/l seems to be what the LBX delivers. You get a long way on a full tank in the LBX, and you are impressed, I would say, by the seats and a relatively low noise level.
The wheelbase is short, because the car is short. Lexus therefore works with strong limitations, and the suspension, together with 18″ wheels, can’t say no to struggling a bit over road bumps and the worst potholes. Again, the LBX is really comfortable anyway and much better at that than the Yaris Cross. The overall experience is really good, because the LBX is light and has steering that I couldn’t wish for better.
The LBX is the best Lexus to hit the market in many years. The mission with a nice interior, high comfort, a really good hybrid powertrain and luxury in a small package has succeeded. Don’t expect it to be spacious, easy to get hold of or affordable – but for private leasing and for two people it is interesting.
SPECIFICATIONS
Lexus LBX Hybrid Cool Luxury
Motor: R3, 1,490 cm3 + el
Performance: 136 hp/250 Nm
0-100 km/h: 9.2 seconds
Top speed: 170 km/h
Consumption: 21.7 km/l
CO2 emissions: 105 grams/km
Goal: 419/183/156 cm
Curb weight: 1,350 kilos
Draw weight: 750 kilos
Trunk volume: 400-992 litres
Price: DKK 512,000 (LBX available from DKK 349,500)
Private leasing (one-off payment/monthly payment): DKK 9,999/4,549 (LBX available from DKK 9,999/3,849)*
Tax basis, company car: Not disclosed
* Private leasing contract of 36 months with a total of 45,000 kilometers included. The price applies to the Emotion Plus variant, as the tested variant is not available for private leasing. Emotion Plus does not have equipment such as electrically adjustable driver’s seat and extra noise-reducing windows.
